Contemplating adding a pi

[CRToon83]

Hey everyone,
Quick question here. I am just throwing around the idea of possibly getting a Pionus. Currently I have a Green Cheeked Conure... and while they will be housed separately, I was curious about playtime. I currently let my GCC out basically whenever I'm at home, and she has 5 playstands around my living room / dining room and 2 in my bedroom.

Would I be able to let both out at the same time? Would they be able to share the stands, or would territory become an issue? My GCC is a female, and I would potentially like a female pi - from what i've heard females have less issues with territory.

Or would they just not get along at all and would require separate out of cage times?

I guess my final question is there a possibility of the two bonding to where they wouldn't want me any more?

Thanks... as I said this is just a possible consideration at the moment, and probably won't happen, but just curious anyway.

[jenseits]

I have a sun conure and a white capped pionus and they do NOT get along... but it's because of the conure, not the pi. Conures have a reputation for being more jealous and bullying other kinds of birds. Not sure if that's true as a generalization, but it's true of my two birds.

As you no doubt have read a lot, whether two birds get along is a gamble, and depends on the individual personalities of the birds. There's a current thread of people posting the most adorable pics of different species getting along just fine (as well as stories of which birds don't get along)... it varies from household to household.

Best case scenario is that they end up being pals. Even if they are bonded, I don't think there's any risk that they won't want anything to do with you anymore as long as you continue to interact with both of them (and they are caged separately).

Worst case scenario is that they completely hate each other and would like nothing more than to drive the other one away. Would you be prepared for that? Would you have enough time for each of them if they had to have separate out time? Also, is your GCC flighted?

If they are both skilled flyers, it might also work because one of them can simply fly away if the other one harrasses her.

I tried having separate out-of-cage time and it just didn't work for us schedule-wise. So I ended up needing to clip my sun conure. Mika was clipped when I got her, and even now with her full set of flights she still doesn't really know how to fly well enough to out-maneuver the sun conure. With him clipped, now they come out at the same time, but they are separated on opposite sides of the room and Stewie can't get to Mika on his own. I can't carry either one of them close to the other.

Other than needing to be vigilant that they don't get near each other, it works okay and we've adjusted. Not sure I've told you anything that you didn't know already (I.e., the answer to your question is "It depends" and "No way to know until you do it") but thought I'd at least give you my experience.

Pis are really awesome birds. Do you know what kind of pionus you're looking for?

[debbielabella]

It's really a gamble. I have a WC Pi and she is fine with my Kakariki's on a large star bird net, but there is so much room on that thing and they are loose together in the room. I wouldn't put them together on the same stand though, as there is less room to share. When she's with my larger birds I have to watch out for her because she is smaller. She is not territorial but she is only 6 months old, that may well change when she reaches maturity. What I've noticed about her is she doesn't look for trouble, she doesn't pick on smaller birds and doesn't try to be bigger than she is going after my big birds. She pretty much minds her own business but likes her own space. I wouldn't expect her to buddy up with any of my birds, but she is peaceful and sweet. Hope she stays that way, but there's no guarantees! Also remember, even if you get a really easy going WC Pi, your greencheek may get jealous, feel threatened and go after her, then I wouldn't expect her to behave.

[ThreeX]

As already said it's a coin toss.. I don't know the first thing about conures as they are extremely rare in Sweden. I have only met breeders/aviary birds and they were handsome but godawful loud.
The ony cases of birds bonding to the point of not wanting to have anything to do with humans/owner is with 'tiels in my experience. I have two couples myself, CAG's and Senegals and neither of the four shy away from me. In this case/scenario i don't think i'd do it. But that's just me of course.

[CRToon83]

Thanks for the help. Honestly, that's about what I thought i'd get as an answer. I like the looks of the white capped and blue capped... but I haven't even started any research that I would need to do before bringing one home. I've been considering a turquoise green cheek conure for a while, so I saw some BC and WC pi's at the bird show last weekend and decided i'd like a little more variety.

Thanks though!

[dmiller91]

I love the pionus. I would definitely like to have one down the line.... <looks around, hopes hsmscout isn't watching!> :)

I think with my Green Cheek and my Sun, I have plenty of happy conure voice in the house!

[debbielabella]

Originally Posted by dmiller91

I love the pionus. I would definitely like to have one down the line.... <looks around, hopes hsmscout isn't watching!> :)

I think with my Green Cheek and my Sun, I have plenty of happy conure voice in the house!

you'd be suprised how loud a WC can be when they have loud birds to imitate!!

but they are very sweet and lovey. and still not as loud as my mini macaw or zon by a long shot!

[CRToon83]

Green Cheeks aren't very loud, so I hope there's not much to imitate! lol...

[Nuesha]

from my experience with my WC pionus, he hates other birds and people except me and my grand pa. He's very bitter lol.

[Jan]

The question of will this bird or that bird get along with another bird is the most hardest question to answer of all bird questions! In time, birds can get along and some won't. Some times you just have to try it out because no one can answer this question correctly. It's the #1 question I get asked through my website!

Anyway, time, proper introduction and all depends on personality of each bird. Some birds are just plain butt heads to other birds, period!